Old Time Tea was speaking so seriously that Zhang Zian was a little flattered. He couldn't guess what Old Time Tea, who was so knowledgeable, wanted to ask him about. Could it be about science?
He smiled and said, "Grandpa Tea, you don't have to be so polite. Just tell me what you don't understand. I will tell you everything I know."
Old Time Tea pondered and said, "Zian, are you saying that Scottish Folds originated from abroad and then came to China?"
Zhang Zian nodded, "Yes, it is said that breeders from a small country in Europe accidentally bred them."
"Do you know what year and month it was?" Old Time Tea asked again.
"Well..." Zhang Zian was not an expert on cat history. He picked up his phone and searched for a while before answering, "1961, more than half a century ago."
"That's not right." Old Time Tea shook its head doubtfully, "I clearly saw the kind of cat with drooping ears before..."
"What?" Zhang Zian was stunned. "Grandpa Tea, when you said 'before,' are you referring to the end of the century before last?"
He met Old Time Tea in Mount Hidden Fog. There were a lot of dense woods on Mount Hidden Fog. At first, he thought that Old Time Tea was referring to the woods of Mount Hidden Fog, but now it seemed that it was not the case.
"Exactly." Old Time Tea was even more confused, "I was in the prime of my life at that time, and I was confident that I would not be wrong. But you said that this kind of cat only appeared in 1961, which is really strange... "
"What did the cat look like? Was it the same as the Scottish Fold? "Zhang Zian inquired in detail.
Old Time Tea shook its head, "It was different. That kind of cat had long hair and pure white fur. It was a bit like Snowy Lionet... but its body was longer and its tail was thicker and more powerful. "
Snowy Lionet was taking a nap. When it heard Old Time Tea mention its name, it blankly opened its sleepy eyes, "What? Why are you looking for me? "
Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea ignored it and didn't answer. They sat back on the reclining chair and thought hard.
The Scottish Fold must have been born in 1961. There was no doubt about that.
However, Old Time Tea couldn't be wrong. With Old Time Tea's character, it wouldn't say it if it wasn't sure.
The question was, what was up with the drooping ears that Old Time Tea saw?
Time passed by. Old Time Tea did not continue to watch TV, and Fina did not continue to sleep. They both stared at Zhang Zian's face curiously.
A cat with long white hair and drooping ears … a Scottish fold … 1961 … the end of the last century …
He combined these keywords together and then separated them again, searching for clues in his mind as if he was scraping his intestines and stomach.
After a long while.
"Ah! I remember now! "Zhang Zian slapped his thigh and stood up." I know what cat you saw! "
"Oh? Zian, tell me quickly! "Old Time Tea said in surprise.
Zhang Zian swallowed his saliva excitedly, organized his words, and said, "I've seen similar rumors before, but at that time, I only heard them as anecdotes and didn't take them seriously. I thought they were just rumors, so I didn't take them seriously. But now that you mentioned it, I remembered …"
Fina interrupted him impatiently, "Don't talk nonsense!"
"Okay …" Zhang Zian was quite complacent. It was not easy for him to be in the limelight, but after being urged by Fina, he had to omit the 10,000-word opening speech. He said directly, "Grandpa Tea, what you saw was not a modern Scottish fold, but a type of ancient China lop-eared cat, called Sumxu in English. No specimens of this cat have been found so far, and it's still debatable whether or not it really exists. The last time it was seen was before liberation. "
Old Time Tea's whiskers trembled slightly, and it said with surprise, "Before liberation … Do you mean before 1949? If so, the time is right. "
Fina frowned unhappily, "An ancient cat? How come I have never heard of this kind of cat? Are you making it up? Do you need me to remind you of the crime of lying to me? "
"Castrate! Castrate! "As soon as this topic was mentioned, Snowy Lionet inexplicably became energetic.
"Ahem!" Zhang Zian coughed a few times and explained to Fina, "Although it is ancient, it is much later than your time. It is normal that you have never heard of it. Don't worry, I will tell you slowly. "
Zhang Zian lay back on the recliner, and like telling a story, he told the legend he had seen to Fina, Old Time Tea, and the other elfins.
The Chinese lop-eared cat was discovered by Western missionaries in the 16th century and written into books. In their books, this kind of cat was described as having long white hair and drooping ears, and it was very popular with Chinese ladies. Even in China at that time, lop-eared cats were not common, and only a small number of them circulated in the upper class.
Some people questioned whether this kind of cat actually existed, because there were no similar records in the local literature of China. Others questioned whether the lop-eared cat was not a kind of cat, but an animal similar to a mink, or a hybrid between a cat and a mink. There were many different opinions, and there was no conclusion. A considerable number of Europeans were interested in this kind of strange cat, and even offered a reward at the European cat show, hoping that someone could bring a Chinese lop-eared cat to them. Unfortunately, no one could take the reward.
The last time the Chinese lop-eared cat was reported was in 1938. Since then, the mainstream opinion was that even if this kind of cat really existed, it was now extinct.
Fina's curiosity was piqued. She wanted to hear more and kept urging him to continue, but that was all Zhang Zian knew.
Old Time Tea let out a long sigh. "Oh, so it is called a lop-eared cat …"
"Well … Grandpa Tea, this lop-eared cat was the name given by the Western missionaries. I don't know what the local people in China call them. It is probably a homophone of the word 'Sumxu'. In addition, according to the records of the missionaries, although the ears of the lop-eared cat and the Scottish Fold are both bent, the causes are different. The Scottish Fold is a deformed genetic mutation, while the lop-eared cat seems to have lost its usefulness and slowly degenerated due to long-term captivity. These are two different directions of the theory of evolution, "Zhang Zian corrected.
As for what the theory of evolution was, it was inevitable that he had to explain it. Zhang Zian's explanation was so confusing that Old Time Tea and Fina didn't really understand.
He talked until his mouth was dry, and he emptied the small amount of ink in his stomach. He picked up a bottle of Evian water, opened it, and drank it as a reward for himself. Fina stared at him, but didn't say anything.
After drinking it, he wiped his mouth and asked Old Time Tea curiously, "Grandpa Tea, according to what you said, you have seen this kind of lop-eared cat before?"
Old Time Tea nodded slowly. "I think it can't be wrong. I saw it once in the jungle at the border of Guangdong and Guangxi. I was very surprised at that time. I didn't know the origin of this cat-like thing. They couldn't understand ordinary cat language. Maybe it's the sumxu you mentioned."
Zhang Zian felt like he had missed out on a hundred million yuan. He wanted to say that Grandpa Tea should have caught one and sent it to the European cat show for a reward. Then he should have exchanged it for gold bars and silver dollars and hidden it in a hidden place. Today, he could have taken him to dig for treasure …
Since Old Time Tea had testified, lop-eared cats probably did exist, but they might have gone extinct in the war of the early last century. As for whether they were cats or martens, it was hard to say. Zhang Zian was more inclined to believe that they were white martens. After all, according to Old Time Tea, they couldn't understand ordinary cat language.
He didn't quite believe that this animal was the offspring of a cat and a marten. A lion and a tiger could give birth to a liger, and a horse and a donkey could give birth to a mule. But a cat and a marten … Wasn't it a bit different? What about reproductive isolation?
Fina sneered, "If I were there, I would know if it was a cat or not."
Zhang Zian didn't argue with it, because what it said was the truth.
It was useless to feel sorry for a mysterious creature that had gone extinct and didn't even have a specimen left.
He stood up with the teapot, "Grandpa Tea, I will change the tea leaves for you."
"Thank you, Zian," Old Time Tea said with a relieved smile. Finally, a burden on its heart was resolved, and it felt very comfortable.
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